Hey everyone! My first Christmas in Peru was quite an experience. The traditions here are more different here than I had previously thought. First of all, the majority of the celebrating is done on Christmas eve when families get together for midnight dinner and then drinking and talking all night long. I learned a new verb that is very important in Peruvian culture, amanecer. This verb literally translates to "to dawn." In the U.S. only the day can "dawn" but here in Peru, people can too. I didn't realize how seriously they take their staying out all night until I had to politely excuse myself at 3 am due to a stomach ache and they looked at me like I was crazy for leaving before the sun came up. My host family came in around six when the day literally was dawning.
Dinner was excellent. It is traditional to eat at twelve but we were invited to two different dinners so we ate at eight and then again at twelve. The massive quantities of turkey, hot chocolate, and paneton (a Peruvian version of fruit cake) were most likely the cause of my stomach ache. After dinner number two we started the traditional passing of the glass where everyone sits in a circle and passes around one glass and one beer. I actually enjoy this tradition because it makes drinking very communal. When the music came on everyone wanted to see me dance so I did my best cumbia with my host sister while everyone else stayed in their seats and watched. I was shy at first but proud to be the entertainment for my entire extended family.
Christmas day was much different than it is in the United States. First of all, they do not know the Santa Claus "myth." They have Santa Claus memorabilia all over the place but they don't know about the flying reindeer or the gift delivery (most likely because most people can't afford gifts). I explained our traditions to my family and even put gifts out under the tree when I got home at 3 am.
Instead of opening gifts and eating a big brunch with family, I found out that people here spend their Christmas drinking, dancing, and napping. When I went out for a walk around 11 I ended up being invited into a house where the people were incredibly curious about my purpose here. After sharing a bottle of wine and a couple of beers (all being passed around in true Peruvian form), the old, senile uncle started telling me he wanted to be my godfather and baptize me. I decided to stop tiptoeing around religion and explain that I am not Catholic and that, in fact, many people in the United States are not Catholic. This concept surprised them and I don't think my new "tio" totally understood. Since I wouldn't let him baptize me he insisted on taking me to the market to buy me earrings. The woman who sells earrings hadn't arrived so I dodged that bullet. The rest of my afternoon was spent relaxing with my host family similar to any Sunday afternoon.
Although it was neat to see the Christmas traditions here, I definitely thought a lot about home. I miss everyone a ton and I look forward to hearing from you. I have really started to settle in here and it has finally hit me that I will be here for two years. Sometimes that seems like forever but for the most part, I think it will fly by. I hope everything is well back at home! Keep me posted!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Channeling McGyver
Merry Christmas And happy holidays everyone! I am experiencing the Southern Hemisphere summer Christmas here and it is quite odd. The 90 degree weather made it difficult for me to really get into the Xmas spirit but because of the importance of the holiday here, I have gotten my fix of hot chocolate and blinking lights. On multiple occasions I have explained to my new friends that Santa wears a jacket because in some parts of the world it is winter. We came to the agreement that Peruvian "Papa Noel" should be dressed in shorts and sunglasses. My host mother went to Lima for the next month because her daughter is giving birth so I will be spending Christmas Eve with my host sister and her in-laws. From what I have heard, Christmas here is celebrated with mass then a midnight dinner on Christmas Eve followed by partying and dancing until the next day then nursing hangovers on Christmas day. When I inquired about gifts, the response was always the same, "when there is enough money, we buy gifts but this year there is not enough." I think that this approach to Christmas is something people in the United States should think about implementing. I discussed with my host sister how the holidays are stressful in the United States because gifts are expected whether there is money or not. Visa is more than willing to help out in the short term.
Alter a month in my site I am settling in and I am beginning to see the reality of life in Peru. I feel like I have passed the "honeymoon stage" of my Peace Corps experience and I am moving into reality. Everything I do is still thrilling, intriguing, or otherwise exciting purely because it is new but I have also had a lot of time to analyze my role here and the reality doesn't always exactly coincide with my idealistic expectations for Peace Corps service. I live in a town where there are a lot of motivated individuals who want to work with me which makes my job as a facilitator much easier but as reality comes into view, it is daunting to feel responsible for implementing all of the projects that people expect me to become involved in using methods that will be sustainable beyond my service. This week I continued my quest for potential projects within the community and came out with many ideas. Along the way I developed a better understanding of the political climate here and learned the importance of distancing myself from local politics if I hope to be a successful Peace Corps volunteer.
One of my biggest adventures was a trip with one of my new associates in the municipality to a site he wants to reforest using zapote, a bizarre fruit that is used to feed livestock. Some might call my new friend a visionary due to his drive to plant zapote but around town he is more commonly known as loco zapote. He has a nursery that, at its peak, housed 25,000 zapote trees but has fallen into disarray and he wants my help in restarting his project. I will definitely be involved because it seems that this is an appropriate plant to grow here due to its affinity for dry climates. The issue will be avoiding committing my life to growing zapote and thus becoming labeled as a political crony of loco zapote. Our trip out into the countryside was a three-hour tour of an area devastated by desertification due to deforestation. I heard my new friend's opinions on topics including American politics, the English language, Peruvian history, and pretty much any topic that crossed his mind. Many of the ideas that he presented as fact I knew to be false however, I appreciated his wide variety of interests and his frankness. I look forward to having an ally within the municipality but after listening to him talk about the people he is not fond of, I realize that it is very important for me to stay on his good side.
The highlight of our field trip was when we came across an archeological dig that seemed to be straight out of Indiana Jones. The archeologists had come across a Pre-Incan pyramid which they were in the process of uncovering. We got to come right up to the excavation and see the paintings left on the adobe walls by the Mochica culture, which inhabited this area around 500 AD. It is incredible that this type of discovery is still being made despite the continuous search for treasures that has continued since the Spanish arrived. As recently as 1997 huge quantities of gold were taken out of the pyramids in the Bosque de Pomac, right next to where I live.
I spent Tuesday of this week getting to know the lifestyle in Huaca Rivera, the small rural community where I work with the volunteer park guards on a tree nursery. At 8 am I arrived at my friend Soledad's house and accompanied her on her daily activities. First we went to her chacra (plot of farmland) where we picked what seemed like 400 mangoes, avocadoes, lentils, limes, and tamarindo (an amazing fruit that tastes like sour warheads). When we got back we ate mangoes until I felt sick and then started making lunch using firewood that we collected from the forest. After lunch Soledad filled my backpack as full as possible with our treasures from the chacra and we went to work in the nursery. The day was an interesting glimpse into what my life might have been like had I been assigned to a more rural site in the district where I live. My next project is to find recipes that use mangoes so that I can eat some of these before they rot.
This week was not without its glitches. After returning from my long day in the countryside I accidentally locked my keys in my room, which would not have been a problem except my host mother had just left for Lima with the spare key in her pocket. I spent the evening tearing the house apart looking for another spare key until I realized it was no use and went to bed in another room. The next morning I went in search of a locksmith or a criminal with experience at breaking and entering. The closest I found was a carpenter who turned out to be overly eager to break the window over my door and climb in. I should have known when his first idea for getting into the room was unlocking the door from the inside…I don't think he fully understood the situation. My best option was to go in search of my inner McGyver. I finally got into my room after spending an hour with a long pole that had a wire loop and a plastic bottle on the end. Despite the frustration throughout the process, I am pretty proud of my ingenuity.
As I figure out my role here, I am keeping in mind that no matter what happens, I will have an amazing experience. The first two goals of the Peace Corps that were drilled into our heads throughout training are to help Peruvians better understand American culture and to foster a better understanding of Peruvian culture once I return to the United States. I will have no problem accomplishing these two goals. The third goal of bringing technical assistance to developing countries will not be an issue if I continue teaching, working on tree nurseries, and supporting the efforts of the solid waste management committee but it is becoming difficult not to expect long-term, sustainable solutions to big problems. I have come to realize that the biggest thing I could possibly do here is get a few people to be passionate enough about their local environment that they will carry on my efforts after I leave. In my short time here I have already met multiple people who could potentially fill this role. I have a few projects that I will be starting in the New Year but for now, it is time to focus on the holidays and community integration (translation: attending parties and eating).
Alter a month in my site I am settling in and I am beginning to see the reality of life in Peru. I feel like I have passed the "honeymoon stage" of my Peace Corps experience and I am moving into reality. Everything I do is still thrilling, intriguing, or otherwise exciting purely because it is new but I have also had a lot of time to analyze my role here and the reality doesn't always exactly coincide with my idealistic expectations for Peace Corps service. I live in a town where there are a lot of motivated individuals who want to work with me which makes my job as a facilitator much easier but as reality comes into view, it is daunting to feel responsible for implementing all of the projects that people expect me to become involved in using methods that will be sustainable beyond my service. This week I continued my quest for potential projects within the community and came out with many ideas. Along the way I developed a better understanding of the political climate here and learned the importance of distancing myself from local politics if I hope to be a successful Peace Corps volunteer.
One of my biggest adventures was a trip with one of my new associates in the municipality to a site he wants to reforest using zapote, a bizarre fruit that is used to feed livestock. Some might call my new friend a visionary due to his drive to plant zapote but around town he is more commonly known as loco zapote. He has a nursery that, at its peak, housed 25,000 zapote trees but has fallen into disarray and he wants my help in restarting his project. I will definitely be involved because it seems that this is an appropriate plant to grow here due to its affinity for dry climates. The issue will be avoiding committing my life to growing zapote and thus becoming labeled as a political crony of loco zapote. Our trip out into the countryside was a three-hour tour of an area devastated by desertification due to deforestation. I heard my new friend's opinions on topics including American politics, the English language, Peruvian history, and pretty much any topic that crossed his mind. Many of the ideas that he presented as fact I knew to be false however, I appreciated his wide variety of interests and his frankness. I look forward to having an ally within the municipality but after listening to him talk about the people he is not fond of, I realize that it is very important for me to stay on his good side.
The highlight of our field trip was when we came across an archeological dig that seemed to be straight out of Indiana Jones. The archeologists had come across a Pre-Incan pyramid which they were in the process of uncovering. We got to come right up to the excavation and see the paintings left on the adobe walls by the Mochica culture, which inhabited this area around 500 AD. It is incredible that this type of discovery is still being made despite the continuous search for treasures that has continued since the Spanish arrived. As recently as 1997 huge quantities of gold were taken out of the pyramids in the Bosque de Pomac, right next to where I live.
I spent Tuesday of this week getting to know the lifestyle in Huaca Rivera, the small rural community where I work with the volunteer park guards on a tree nursery. At 8 am I arrived at my friend Soledad's house and accompanied her on her daily activities. First we went to her chacra (plot of farmland) where we picked what seemed like 400 mangoes, avocadoes, lentils, limes, and tamarindo (an amazing fruit that tastes like sour warheads). When we got back we ate mangoes until I felt sick and then started making lunch using firewood that we collected from the forest. After lunch Soledad filled my backpack as full as possible with our treasures from the chacra and we went to work in the nursery. The day was an interesting glimpse into what my life might have been like had I been assigned to a more rural site in the district where I live. My next project is to find recipes that use mangoes so that I can eat some of these before they rot.
This week was not without its glitches. After returning from my long day in the countryside I accidentally locked my keys in my room, which would not have been a problem except my host mother had just left for Lima with the spare key in her pocket. I spent the evening tearing the house apart looking for another spare key until I realized it was no use and went to bed in another room. The next morning I went in search of a locksmith or a criminal with experience at breaking and entering. The closest I found was a carpenter who turned out to be overly eager to break the window over my door and climb in. I should have known when his first idea for getting into the room was unlocking the door from the inside…I don't think he fully understood the situation. My best option was to go in search of my inner McGyver. I finally got into my room after spending an hour with a long pole that had a wire loop and a plastic bottle on the end. Despite the frustration throughout the process, I am pretty proud of my ingenuity.
As I figure out my role here, I am keeping in mind that no matter what happens, I will have an amazing experience. The first two goals of the Peace Corps that were drilled into our heads throughout training are to help Peruvians better understand American culture and to foster a better understanding of Peruvian culture once I return to the United States. I will have no problem accomplishing these two goals. The third goal of bringing technical assistance to developing countries will not be an issue if I continue teaching, working on tree nurseries, and supporting the efforts of the solid waste management committee but it is becoming difficult not to expect long-term, sustainable solutions to big problems. I have come to realize that the biggest thing I could possibly do here is get a few people to be passionate enough about their local environment that they will carry on my efforts after I leave. In my short time here I have already met multiple people who could potentially fill this role. I have a few projects that I will be starting in the New Year but for now, it is time to focus on the holidays and community integration (translation: attending parties and eating).
Saturday, December 19, 2009
3 day party
These last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activities that have helped me build credibility in the community and establish myself as hardworking. I have made the leap (at least among the schoolchildren) from gringa to Señorita Dani. I have given presentations in both primary schools in my town about participatory environmental education and it seems that the teachers are responding positively. They are very interested in starting recycling programs, building tree nurseries, and taking field trips. I am very lucky with my site because all the people here need is a little encouragement and facilitation. There is a strong interest in protecting their environment and I am here to motivate people to be confident enough to step outside the box a little.
My favorite activity that I have done so far was to make tipi-taps with some of the high school students. Tipi taps are essentially two liter bottles turned upside down, filled with water, and hung outside the bathroom to encourage hand washing. Since we only have water select hours of the day, I have had trouble washing my hands every time I use the bathroom so I stole this project idea from the water and sanitation Peace Corps program. I made hand washing cool in the high school, which is the most I can hope for as a Peace Corps volunteer.
As Christmas approaches I have been thinking a lot about family and tradition. I look forward to participating in all the traditions here, which I am told include mass and a midnight dinner on Christmas Eve. My host mother will be in Lima because her youngest daughter is giving birth so she will not be present for my first Peruvian Christmas. I will not, however, be orphaned and lonely on Christmas. I have been invited to about ten different houses but I will be accompanying my host sister to her in-law's house.
The amount of socializing that I have done in the past three weeks has given me a pretty good glimpse into the culture of Pacora. It is a vibrant and friendly town where everyone is curious about who I am and what I am doing. In order to meet more people and give off a wholesome and trustworthy image, I started attending mass with my host mother. This achieved the desired effect but now I am back peddling a little bit because now everyone thinks that I am a devout Catholic. I have been invited to pray on many occasions and in some cases I have accepted and asked for health, friendship, and success in the upcoming year. I thought it was pretty good for a first prayer in any language.
Another fact of life that I am getting used to is the fact that there is no separation of church and state. Since the students at the local public high school were required to learn The Lord's Prayer in English for their English class last week, my English class turned into a combination language-religion course. This was not my ideal situation but it was one way to get to know the kids.
When I refer to the people here as vibrant I mean that in many senses of the word. There is a ton of energy everywhere you look. Subtlety is not a concept that exists. The colors are bright, glitter is prevalent, raucous laughter spills out of every house, and the parties last for days. Last week the neighbors had a baptism party that lasted for three days. As soon as I saw the twelve-foot tower of speakers and mototaxi after mototaxi arriving full of beer, I knew I wouldn't be sleeping. When I saw the same speaker tower on the sidewalk outside my house today (it wouldn't fit through the other neighbor's door) I knew what was coming. I definitely respect a culture that doesn't hold back when it comes to partying but I am used to the police showing up if the music can even be heard from the neighbor's house. I tried to explain this to my host mom as the windows visibly shook above our heads due to the volume of the chicken dance and she did not understand the concept. I am pretty sure that I will be coming back to the states much less uptight than I am now (although I never really thought of myself as uptight before coming to Peru).
I am at a point where I am transitioning from the honeymoon stage into the reality. I am figuring out the quirks of the culture that I will be working with and trying to adjust my tactics and expectations accordingly. Punctuality and Ford style efficiency have given way to a less rigid, García-Márquez perception of time. I am starting to see all the Latin American lit I read in college with a new clarity…and it's growing on me even though the chicken dance just started up again for the second time in the last half hour.
My favorite activity that I have done so far was to make tipi-taps with some of the high school students. Tipi taps are essentially two liter bottles turned upside down, filled with water, and hung outside the bathroom to encourage hand washing. Since we only have water select hours of the day, I have had trouble washing my hands every time I use the bathroom so I stole this project idea from the water and sanitation Peace Corps program. I made hand washing cool in the high school, which is the most I can hope for as a Peace Corps volunteer.
As Christmas approaches I have been thinking a lot about family and tradition. I look forward to participating in all the traditions here, which I am told include mass and a midnight dinner on Christmas Eve. My host mother will be in Lima because her youngest daughter is giving birth so she will not be present for my first Peruvian Christmas. I will not, however, be orphaned and lonely on Christmas. I have been invited to about ten different houses but I will be accompanying my host sister to her in-law's house.
The amount of socializing that I have done in the past three weeks has given me a pretty good glimpse into the culture of Pacora. It is a vibrant and friendly town where everyone is curious about who I am and what I am doing. In order to meet more people and give off a wholesome and trustworthy image, I started attending mass with my host mother. This achieved the desired effect but now I am back peddling a little bit because now everyone thinks that I am a devout Catholic. I have been invited to pray on many occasions and in some cases I have accepted and asked for health, friendship, and success in the upcoming year. I thought it was pretty good for a first prayer in any language.
Another fact of life that I am getting used to is the fact that there is no separation of church and state. Since the students at the local public high school were required to learn The Lord's Prayer in English for their English class last week, my English class turned into a combination language-religion course. This was not my ideal situation but it was one way to get to know the kids.
When I refer to the people here as vibrant I mean that in many senses of the word. There is a ton of energy everywhere you look. Subtlety is not a concept that exists. The colors are bright, glitter is prevalent, raucous laughter spills out of every house, and the parties last for days. Last week the neighbors had a baptism party that lasted for three days. As soon as I saw the twelve-foot tower of speakers and mototaxi after mototaxi arriving full of beer, I knew I wouldn't be sleeping. When I saw the same speaker tower on the sidewalk outside my house today (it wouldn't fit through the other neighbor's door) I knew what was coming. I definitely respect a culture that doesn't hold back when it comes to partying but I am used to the police showing up if the music can even be heard from the neighbor's house. I tried to explain this to my host mom as the windows visibly shook above our heads due to the volume of the chicken dance and she did not understand the concept. I am pretty sure that I will be coming back to the states much less uptight than I am now (although I never really thought of myself as uptight before coming to Peru).
I am at a point where I am transitioning from the honeymoon stage into the reality. I am figuring out the quirks of the culture that I will be working with and trying to adjust my tactics and expectations accordingly. Punctuality and Ford style efficiency have given way to a less rigid, García-Márquez perception of time. I am starting to see all the Latin American lit I read in college with a new clarity…and it's growing on me even though the chicken dance just started up again for the second time in the last half hour.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Some things you should know about life in Peru...
20 Things I've Learned in Peru
Meat and Food
1. The cute, small guinea pigs that let you pet them aren't being friendly, they are weak and will die soon. Don't get attached.
2. The darker chunks of "meat" in the soup are not really meat, they are mystery organs.
3. Eating mangoes when there is no running water equals sticky hands all day. It is better to save this snack for later when there is water.
4. Too many mangoes leads to an uncomfortable stomach situation.
5. The warm, unpasteurized mile that comes with breakfast, although delicious, does not help the aforementioned uncomfortable stomach situation.
6. It is impossible to eat anything without first adding at least half the weight of the original food in either salt or sugar.
7. On any given day one should consume large quantities of the four main food groups, white rice, noodles, potatoes, and white bread, often all in the same meal.
Language Barrier
8. To collaborate with someone means to pay them, not to share in responsibility.
9. To invite someone to something means you are paying. Be careful about inviting a Peruvian friend to a movie or a meal.
10. In Peruvian Spanish every word ends in the diminutive -ita as a means of showing endearment. My favorite so far was when someone told me the restroom was ocupadita instead of just ocupada (occupied).
Household chores
11. Doing laundry by hand with open wounds on your hands will lead to extreme discomfort.
12. It is possible to remain perfectly clean and ironed after gutting a hen, walking 2 kilometers on a dusty road, and eating an ice cream. So far I haven't succeeded in staying clean through one of these activities let alone all three.
Celebrity
13. Telling the school children where you live will mean constantly being watched through your window.
14. Attending town gatherings will mean giving a public speech and sitting with the authorities as a "representative of the government of the United States."
Culture
15. It is perfectly acceptable to refer to someone by their physical attributes. Weight, race, and skin color are all commonly included in nicknames. It is also possible to convert a defining physical characteristic into a nickname by adding the diminutive or demonstrative, i.e. a cabezon would be a person with a big head or a narizon would be a big nosed person.
16. Being 22 and unconcerned with finding a husband and having kids in the immediate future is almost unheard of (hence the name of the new Facebook album, Confessions of a 22 year old spinster).
Perceptions of American Culture
17. All Americans only eat canned food.
18. Americans come to steal babies.
19. Americans throw their clothes away after very little use.
20. Americans bring swine flu.
Meat and Food
1. The cute, small guinea pigs that let you pet them aren't being friendly, they are weak and will die soon. Don't get attached.
2. The darker chunks of "meat" in the soup are not really meat, they are mystery organs.
3. Eating mangoes when there is no running water equals sticky hands all day. It is better to save this snack for later when there is water.
4. Too many mangoes leads to an uncomfortable stomach situation.
5. The warm, unpasteurized mile that comes with breakfast, although delicious, does not help the aforementioned uncomfortable stomach situation.
6. It is impossible to eat anything without first adding at least half the weight of the original food in either salt or sugar.
7. On any given day one should consume large quantities of the four main food groups, white rice, noodles, potatoes, and white bread, often all in the same meal.
Language Barrier
8. To collaborate with someone means to pay them, not to share in responsibility.
9. To invite someone to something means you are paying. Be careful about inviting a Peruvian friend to a movie or a meal.
10. In Peruvian Spanish every word ends in the diminutive -ita as a means of showing endearment. My favorite so far was when someone told me the restroom was ocupadita instead of just ocupada (occupied).
Household chores
11. Doing laundry by hand with open wounds on your hands will lead to extreme discomfort.
12. It is possible to remain perfectly clean and ironed after gutting a hen, walking 2 kilometers on a dusty road, and eating an ice cream. So far I haven't succeeded in staying clean through one of these activities let alone all three.
Celebrity
13. Telling the school children where you live will mean constantly being watched through your window.
14. Attending town gatherings will mean giving a public speech and sitting with the authorities as a "representative of the government of the United States."
Culture
15. It is perfectly acceptable to refer to someone by their physical attributes. Weight, race, and skin color are all commonly included in nicknames. It is also possible to convert a defining physical characteristic into a nickname by adding the diminutive or demonstrative, i.e. a cabezon would be a person with a big head or a narizon would be a big nosed person.
16. Being 22 and unconcerned with finding a husband and having kids in the immediate future is almost unheard of (hence the name of the new Facebook album, Confessions of a 22 year old spinster).
Perceptions of American Culture
17. All Americans only eat canned food.
18. Americans come to steal babies.
19. Americans throw their clothes away after very little use.
20. Americans bring swine flu.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Aniversario!
Hey everyone! My second week in site has been crazy busy in part because this week was our district anniversary. Since my town is the capitol of the district of Pacora, it was the center of the action. My motto has been "say yes to everything" which has gotten me involved in all kinds of projects in the community. It is amazing to have everyone so excited to work with me and hang out with me but it has given me a new respect for what it must be like to be a celebrity. Although I love when the school children yell out "hola señorita Dani" every time I walk by, it is not as endearing when I am relaxing in the living room with my family and groups of little kids come up to peek through the window. I am hoping that soon some of the novelty will wear off and people will be more interested in working with me and getting to know me than just staring at me.
Over the weekend I attended various events leading up to the anniversary including the Señorita Pacora pageant and the mass wedding. Both were very well attended events and allowed me to experience a little more of the culture in Pacora. The pageant was a typical beauty pageant without the talent portion. The mass wedding was an opportunity for people who do not have enough money for a wedding to participate in a proper civil ceremony complete with cake and snacks all provided by the municipality. Twenty-one couples participated ranging in age from 15 to 65. It was a happy occasion for everyone but also an interesting glimpse into the lives of the people here. I am definitely an anomaly due to the fact that I am not in any rush to get married or have kids at 22. Many of the people I meet are convinced that I will end up marrying a Peruvian.
This week started off great. Sunday evening I went to introduce myself to the people who own the local equestrian tourism company and give tours of the historical sanctuary Bosque de Pomac. They were thrilled that I am interested in working with them and they said that I could ride whenever I want. I am also invited to accompany them any time they take tourists out into the forest. They also do inn-to-inn type of tours through the forest and to different ruins throughout the area. I am really excited to go on one of these rides one day! For now, they offered me the opportunity to show up any time I like and take a horse out. They have Peruvian Pasos which are horses bred for their incredibly smooth gait. They say that these horses are so smooth you can sip wine while riding. That sounds like my ideal afternoon.
Monday the real work started. My fellow Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) Tyler came into Pacora and we taught an environmental lesson about the biosphere at the local high school. I taught the lesson three times in the morning and then two more times later in the afternoon. It went really well with everyone and at the end of each lesson we created a contract of things we will do to help protect our biosphere. All of the kids came up with excellent ideas and then signed. The teachers and director were so excited about these contracts that they posted them in the quad area so that everyone would see them. I will be teaching every Monday and Wednesday at the high school and I am hoping to coordinate with the local elementary schools to work with them as well. I only hope that I am creative enough to have consistently good lessons.
On the day of the anniversary, I went out into the plaza at 8 am to help run a campaign for world AIDS day. Some nursing students came from a local university to help my friend Rocio and I talk to people in the plaza about HIV-AIDS and pin red ribbons on passersby. We even convinced the local politicians and authorities to wear the ribbons and demonstrate their support for our cause! Rocio is the OBGYN at the health post and has tons of energy. We already have ideas for projects informing the public about adverse health effects of dumping garbage and campaigns for hand washing. I am looking forward to getting going on some of these longer-term projects.
When it came time for the ceremonial part of the anniversary, the mayor requested that I participate along with the authorities. I ended up carrying the flag around the streets of Pacora along with the governor of our district, the mayor, members of the military, and other important figures. I also got VIP seating and a shout out in the mayor's opening speech. It was a little intense and embarrassing but I think it helped me to build credibility with the public.
Once the real parade started, I marched first with the health post, much to the dismay of the women's group that I work with, and then I ran back to march with the solid waste management committee. It was flattering to be in such high demand among the local institutions and organizations.
One of the projects that I will be working on while I am here is maintaining the tree nursery that my predecessor established in a rural area outside of Pacora. So far, our weekly meetings have been very productive in terms of the quantity of trees that we plant but I am trying to figure out how to deal with some frustrating patterns that I have noticed. The women tend to start out every meeting bickering about who forgot to bring a shovel and who brought a small bucket to water the trees. After that, we spend a good amount of time deciding how to divide up the work so that it is fair and then, finally, we begin planting. It is great fun to chat and joke around with them and their children are adorable but I will definitely be learning to have patience from this activity.
This weekend I will be going into the capitol city of Chiclayo for our monthly regional meeting and I am looking forward to debriefing some of my recent experiences. I am also looking forward to meeting all of the other volunteers in the department of Lambayeque as they will be my support network over the next two years. As we move into the Christmas season, I think it will be really nice to have friends that understand what I am going through and give me a connection to my former life. I hope everything is going well back in The States. I am entering summer down here so I hope all of you will go out and play in the snow for me! Miss you!
Over the weekend I attended various events leading up to the anniversary including the Señorita Pacora pageant and the mass wedding. Both were very well attended events and allowed me to experience a little more of the culture in Pacora. The pageant was a typical beauty pageant without the talent portion. The mass wedding was an opportunity for people who do not have enough money for a wedding to participate in a proper civil ceremony complete with cake and snacks all provided by the municipality. Twenty-one couples participated ranging in age from 15 to 65. It was a happy occasion for everyone but also an interesting glimpse into the lives of the people here. I am definitely an anomaly due to the fact that I am not in any rush to get married or have kids at 22. Many of the people I meet are convinced that I will end up marrying a Peruvian.
This week started off great. Sunday evening I went to introduce myself to the people who own the local equestrian tourism company and give tours of the historical sanctuary Bosque de Pomac. They were thrilled that I am interested in working with them and they said that I could ride whenever I want. I am also invited to accompany them any time they take tourists out into the forest. They also do inn-to-inn type of tours through the forest and to different ruins throughout the area. I am really excited to go on one of these rides one day! For now, they offered me the opportunity to show up any time I like and take a horse out. They have Peruvian Pasos which are horses bred for their incredibly smooth gait. They say that these horses are so smooth you can sip wine while riding. That sounds like my ideal afternoon.
Monday the real work started. My fellow Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) Tyler came into Pacora and we taught an environmental lesson about the biosphere at the local high school. I taught the lesson three times in the morning and then two more times later in the afternoon. It went really well with everyone and at the end of each lesson we created a contract of things we will do to help protect our biosphere. All of the kids came up with excellent ideas and then signed. The teachers and director were so excited about these contracts that they posted them in the quad area so that everyone would see them. I will be teaching every Monday and Wednesday at the high school and I am hoping to coordinate with the local elementary schools to work with them as well. I only hope that I am creative enough to have consistently good lessons.
On the day of the anniversary, I went out into the plaza at 8 am to help run a campaign for world AIDS day. Some nursing students came from a local university to help my friend Rocio and I talk to people in the plaza about HIV-AIDS and pin red ribbons on passersby. We even convinced the local politicians and authorities to wear the ribbons and demonstrate their support for our cause! Rocio is the OBGYN at the health post and has tons of energy. We already have ideas for projects informing the public about adverse health effects of dumping garbage and campaigns for hand washing. I am looking forward to getting going on some of these longer-term projects.
When it came time for the ceremonial part of the anniversary, the mayor requested that I participate along with the authorities. I ended up carrying the flag around the streets of Pacora along with the governor of our district, the mayor, members of the military, and other important figures. I also got VIP seating and a shout out in the mayor's opening speech. It was a little intense and embarrassing but I think it helped me to build credibility with the public.
Once the real parade started, I marched first with the health post, much to the dismay of the women's group that I work with, and then I ran back to march with the solid waste management committee. It was flattering to be in such high demand among the local institutions and organizations.
One of the projects that I will be working on while I am here is maintaining the tree nursery that my predecessor established in a rural area outside of Pacora. So far, our weekly meetings have been very productive in terms of the quantity of trees that we plant but I am trying to figure out how to deal with some frustrating patterns that I have noticed. The women tend to start out every meeting bickering about who forgot to bring a shovel and who brought a small bucket to water the trees. After that, we spend a good amount of time deciding how to divide up the work so that it is fair and then, finally, we begin planting. It is great fun to chat and joke around with them and their children are adorable but I will definitely be learning to have patience from this activity.
This weekend I will be going into the capitol city of Chiclayo for our monthly regional meeting and I am looking forward to debriefing some of my recent experiences. I am also looking forward to meeting all of the other volunteers in the department of Lambayeque as they will be my support network over the next two years. As we move into the Christmas season, I think it will be really nice to have friends that understand what I am going through and give me a connection to my former life. I hope everything is going well back in The States. I am entering summer down here so I hope all of you will go out and play in the snow for me! Miss you!
First Week in Site
Hey everyone! I hope Thanksgiving was great! I was thinking of everyone back home as I finished up my first week here in the town of Pacora, Peru. So far everything here is "tranquilo" (a word that is used in the same way good or chill is used in the United States). My family is really sweet and involves me in everything but doesn't mind if I hang out in my room. This is especially important because I have been reading the last installment of Twilight so I have been absorbed in that most of the time when I'm around the house. My life here is much easier than I was expecting as a Peace Corps volunteer because I have every amenity I could need, running water, electricity, internet down the street, and stores where I can get most things that I would want. I even got the water heater working the other day and had a hot shower! Despite the comforts, I am definitely not living the same life I had in the USA. Every morning I wake up to people and animals screaming next door as they butcher their sheep, goats, etc. to take to the market. As I walk through town on any given morning or evening, I am often almost run over by herds of animals being taken out to graze. I may still be in the honeymoon stage in my new home but I find all of these quirks very endearing.
Although I'm having a great time, I'm also starting to see where the frustrations will come from in my next two years. It will be the little things not working out for example my technical difficulties on Thanksgiving that got in the way of my Skype date with my family. I am slowly realizing that I am no longer in the world of Teflon non-stick pans and running water at all hours of the day (we only get water for two hours at breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Not everything works properly all of the time and this is what I can tell I will have the most trouble adjusting to.
One thing that is going to keep me sane while I am here is the people. In the last week I have met so many people with great ideas for projects and incredible energy to get things done. Since I have been here, I have been teaching daily English/environment classes to a growing group of neighborhood kids. We usually start out with some English and then move to talking about environmental issues at my insistence. Yesterday we even drew posters to encourage people not to litter and cut trees that we will be putting up around the plaza for the anniversary. These kids are so enthusiastic about working with me that I literally have to kick them out of my house after our hour-long sessions.
For the first three days this week I worked with the obstetrician at the health post on materials for an HIV-AIDS education campaign. Her idea is to lighten the mood so that people are more comfortable discussing STDs and AIDS in particular. We made four-foot tall cardboard cutouts of condoms wearing ties, hats that say "put on your hat," and a wheel of risky and non-risky behaviors. The first thing she showed me when I arrived was a huge book of she had made with three-foot tall glittery drawings of various STD infected body parts. It was pretty hard not to laugh at the super sparkly version of herpes she showed me.
One of my secondary projects here will be to help out with the tree nursery that my predecessor started in one of the rural areas outside of Pacora. The trees from this nursery will be used to reforest parts of the National Historical Sanctuary Bosque de Pomac. I can tell that this project will be both a source of joy and frustration after my first week working with them. I showed up on Tuesday for our meeting and it turns out they had decided to have the meeting Thursday so I came back Thursday. When everyone finally arrived and we went to start planting trees, the neighbor came out and started yelling at us that we couldn't plant trees because he wanted to run his animals there. Since we are working in a national protected area, he technically shouldn't be running his animals there anyway but that was irrelevant. After sorting this and a few other details out we began to plant our trees. All of the volunteer park guards that I was working with were so enthusiastic and grateful to have me there so, overall I found this rewarding. I have a feeling that when I go back and find all the trees dead, my frustration might come back but for now, I'm just enjoying the fact that everyone got out there and got their hands dirty with me.
As I finish up my first week in Pacora, I feel like I become more a part of the community each day. Yesterday I started doing my community surveys where I sit down with someone in each household for about 20 minutes and ask them about their garbage, whether they would be interested in planting trees, and whether they would be interested in attending lectures on environmental topics. So far, everyone that I have talked to has been welcomed me into their home and expressed an interest in helping me get to know Pacora. Even though it can be awkward to go into someone's home and start asking them personal questions, I can already tell that this will help me to figure out what types of projects will best benefit the community. After all my training in the theory of participatory community development projects, it is awesome to actually start putting it into action. At this point, I don't think that I could have been given a better site to work in.
Although I'm having a great time, I'm also starting to see where the frustrations will come from in my next two years. It will be the little things not working out for example my technical difficulties on Thanksgiving that got in the way of my Skype date with my family. I am slowly realizing that I am no longer in the world of Teflon non-stick pans and running water at all hours of the day (we only get water for two hours at breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Not everything works properly all of the time and this is what I can tell I will have the most trouble adjusting to.
One thing that is going to keep me sane while I am here is the people. In the last week I have met so many people with great ideas for projects and incredible energy to get things done. Since I have been here, I have been teaching daily English/environment classes to a growing group of neighborhood kids. We usually start out with some English and then move to talking about environmental issues at my insistence. Yesterday we even drew posters to encourage people not to litter and cut trees that we will be putting up around the plaza for the anniversary. These kids are so enthusiastic about working with me that I literally have to kick them out of my house after our hour-long sessions.
For the first three days this week I worked with the obstetrician at the health post on materials for an HIV-AIDS education campaign. Her idea is to lighten the mood so that people are more comfortable discussing STDs and AIDS in particular. We made four-foot tall cardboard cutouts of condoms wearing ties, hats that say "put on your hat," and a wheel of risky and non-risky behaviors. The first thing she showed me when I arrived was a huge book of she had made with three-foot tall glittery drawings of various STD infected body parts. It was pretty hard not to laugh at the super sparkly version of herpes she showed me.
One of my secondary projects here will be to help out with the tree nursery that my predecessor started in one of the rural areas outside of Pacora. The trees from this nursery will be used to reforest parts of the National Historical Sanctuary Bosque de Pomac. I can tell that this project will be both a source of joy and frustration after my first week working with them. I showed up on Tuesday for our meeting and it turns out they had decided to have the meeting Thursday so I came back Thursday. When everyone finally arrived and we went to start planting trees, the neighbor came out and started yelling at us that we couldn't plant trees because he wanted to run his animals there. Since we are working in a national protected area, he technically shouldn't be running his animals there anyway but that was irrelevant. After sorting this and a few other details out we began to plant our trees. All of the volunteer park guards that I was working with were so enthusiastic and grateful to have me there so, overall I found this rewarding. I have a feeling that when I go back and find all the trees dead, my frustration might come back but for now, I'm just enjoying the fact that everyone got out there and got their hands dirty with me.
As I finish up my first week in Pacora, I feel like I become more a part of the community each day. Yesterday I started doing my community surveys where I sit down with someone in each household for about 20 minutes and ask them about their garbage, whether they would be interested in planting trees, and whether they would be interested in attending lectures on environmental topics. So far, everyone that I have talked to has been welcomed me into their home and expressed an interest in helping me get to know Pacora. Even though it can be awkward to go into someone's home and start asking them personal questions, I can already tell that this will help me to figure out what types of projects will best benefit the community. After all my training in the theory of participatory community development projects, it is awesome to actually start putting it into action. At this point, I don't think that I could have been given a better site to work in.
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